Merging Marketing And Technology

We’re living in a digital world, and the sheet metal and HVAC industry needs to find ways to adopt the right technologies and keep up.

 How many times have you ordered a pizza from an app on your mobile phone, only to know exactly when (and where) your driver will deliver it? What about the golf club ads that seem to follow you on your Facebook feed or pop up next to an article you read online? 

 This is what happens when marketing meets technology. From a user standpoint, it can seem a little creepy at first. We’re not saying your phone knows everything about you … but every click, every like and every website you visit can be tracked and used in some sneaky (yet effective) marketing. And from a business standpoint, these digital tools have become increasingly valuable. In fact, contractors stand to benefit in a number of ways — everything from more targeted recruitment efforts and fleet safety to employee time tracking and efficiency. 

 Here’s a high level, behind-the-scenes look at how it all works.

Remarketing

Remarketing (or retargeting) is a pay-to-play strategy to help capture and bring back people who’ve already interacted with your website in some way. Let’s say John Doe spent time looking at your company’s services and products, then left your website without filling out a contact form or calling for service. Cookies (little pieces of data that help personalize your internet experience) kick in and allow you to promote the very services and products they were looking for. It helps with brand awareness and, often, bringing those potential customers back to seal the deal. 

Geofencing

Geofencing is a strategy that uses GPS and other cellular data to set up virtual boundaries around predetermined geographical locations that trigger certain actions when crossed.

For example, if a contractor had a booth at a trade show, they could set up geofencing for the location of the event. Anyone who traveled within the boundary of that particular event could then see targeted ads from that contractor. This is especially helpful for recruiting purposes because you can microtarget people who already have a connection to a project/school/warehouse rather than “spraying and praying” advertising to a random group of people. Geofencing on the jobsite can also create a more accurate record of employee hours for more efficient payroll processing.

GPS TRACKING

Utilizing real-time GPS tracking can help you streamline your day-to-day business operations. This technology has long been used in fleet management to track safe driving habits, identify coaching opportunities and help manage the location and ETAs of technicians and equipment. As with all technology, GPS advancements bring additional opportunities to boost efficiency. By integrating positioning technology into your applications, you’ll likely see cost savings through improved accuracy, reliability and safety.

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